Frightend case of liver disease

[Lozzafis]

Im out of my mind with worry i have cut down on my drinking and have tried to stay off it but it gets the better of me, i find it hatd to sit down and relax after tea and find myself pouring the wine has its got the better of me, i know im not a alcoholic but i think i can be a bit dependant on it, we have a lot of friends who since the kids have grown up we are out most weekends,like i posted last week the psin undervand behind my rib is there everyday, it hurts when i bend sat still its like a dull ache and just noticable it being there, today i have had pain in my back going up to my right shoulder, ive had scans the last being 8 weeks ago and she said my liver looks fine no fat even, could she have made a mistake? Or could cirrhosis been missed, i was told i have a heitus hernia on having the camera down my throat last yr, and today i feel as though im bit breathlessness, im awaiting to see a gastroenterologist and have been told upto 20 week wait im on week 8, i feel like im being fobbed of with this pain, one dr said it could be muscular skeleton pain, i feel like people are thing hypochondriac but the pain is real and not in my head

[Hidden]

Oh dear. These waiting lists for initial specialist appointments are really bad aren't they ? Can you afford to pay privately just for that first appointment? you are then in the NHS system much quicker. Just see your GP to refer you for a private consultation. If my husbands referral for diagnosis of PMR is anything to go by, he was seen within 2 days. He was told what he needed doing, had X rays done, the drugs he needed were administered there and then, fluid drained from his knee. We were home within an hour and the following morning he could run up and down the stairs. It cost £250 for the consultation and a further £150 for the treatments .... worth every penny as prior to this he was in dreadful pain and could barely move. From then on all his checkups and treatments are done by the NHS very successfully 😃

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I agree, going private for the initial consultation is the best way to be seen quickly. My first appointment with a consultant was actually cheaper, £150 but the bloods cost an absolute fortune at £850!! What's even worse, I never got the results for those bloods... Can't complain though as everything else, including the transplant, was efficiently carried out on the (amazing) NHS.

I now got private health insurance for the wife and kids but not myself as not only it costs too much but they probably wouldn't cover most things claiming they're related to the liver.

[Barnetaccounts]

Hi I am fascinated by your statement that you are not an “alcoholic”. What is it that makes someone an “alcoholic”.

My understanding simple as it is would be alcohol dependence and alcoholic are one and the same thing. One doesn’t quite sound so bad, and the other brings images of park benches, dogs on a string etc etc. If I am dependant on alcohol I am dependant on alcohol. If I constantly see alcohol as my solution rather than my problem, then I have a problem. It’s not about amounts drunk it’s about the mental effect it has on us. Whilst I sympathise with your undiagnosed pain, and you have been given good advice about speeding at least the diagnosis up, some of your pain could be coming from an inflamed liver and asking that to process alcohol whilst inflamed is like asking a car to keep running without ever putting oil in the engine. I have private medical insurance and was diagnosed with HCC and had a resection to remove it within 3 weeks. When the cancer returned and I was told the only course of action was a transplant the NHS took over and were brilliant. When the transplant was aborted, I went back privately for monitoring and liver management and am now 19 months post transplant attempt, go into hospital overnight about 4 times a year for an embolisation all paid for by my insurance. So I am extremely fortunate that I had the choices available to me, but grabbed them with both hands. I also am an “alcoholic” who hasn’t had a drink for nearly 16 years, never slept on a park bench, had a great career, but in the end got sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. The best thing I have ever done in my life.

[Hidden]

Hi again.

I too find it hard to understand why you don't think you are an alcoholic. Is it the picture it conjures up? An old man in a dirty trench coat sleeping on the streets and park benches with vodka and cider bottles in the pockets? It's just not the case. Alcohol can grip any of us from any walk of life and the only way you are going to stop yourself worrying about getting fatty liver, cirrhosis and dying is to stop drinking. You are without a doubt addicted and suggest you see your GP about getting councelling. There is no excuse there are plenty of support groups oit there. Once you've stopped drinking you will stop constantly worrying about your health and start living a healthier happier life.

L x

[Roy1955]

I run a successful business and have 14 employees.

I brought up 2 kids and they never went without anything they needed.

I am an alcoholic.

I have trashed my health.

If pouring the wine has got the better of you your in the same boat as me.

Ask for help before it's too late.

[Lozzafis in reply to Roy1955]

Mhi roy thankyou for your reply hope your well, was you having symptoms of liver disease has the reason you went to your gp